ERIC Number: EJ1421180
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Mar
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2079-8245
EISSN: EISSN-2308-1422
Investigating Measurement Invariance in PIRLS 2021 across English and IsiZulu Language Groups
Reading & Writing: Journal of the Literacy Association of South Africa, v15 n1 Article 455 2024
Background: PIRLS 2021 results revealed that South African Grade 4 learners performed significantly lower compared to other countries in reading comprehension and that they did not reach the standardised international mean score of 500. It was also evident from the results that English learners performed relatively higher than isiZulu learners. Objective: This study was initiated to investigate whether possible measurement invariance can help explain the difference in the scores of English and isiZulu learners. Measurement invariance is concerned with the metric and functional equivalence of the items in the two languages examined. Method: A quantitative approach was utilised to reanalyse the PIRLS 2021 numerical data sets. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the mean and raw scores. Rasch analysis was conducted to look for any Differential Item Function (DIF) in the items. Results: Statistics revealed that there is a significant difference in the mean scores of the two languages. Analysis of raw scores provided evidence that some of the items lacked metric equivalence. Rasch analysis displayed that some of the items lacked functional equivalence. Conclusions: The significant difference found in the scores implies that Grade 4 learners need more attention mastering the skill of reading literacy. The lack of metric and functional equivalence suggests that items in the passages need to be investigated and improved. Contributions: This study has contributed to the International Large-Scale Assessment literature specifically relating to the equivalence of ILSA across languages. A significant gap in the learners' scores was identified and measurement invariance helped explain the gap in the learners' reading scores.
Descriptors: Error of Measurement, Grade 4, Reading Comprehension, Scores, Reading Skills, Measures (Individuals), Elementary School Students, Foreign Countries, English, African Languages, Language Usage, Standardized Tests
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A